Work to improve the safety at the intersection of Illinois Route 50 and County Line Road started Monday.

It was bittersweet.

Two days earlier, the 18th crash this year occurred at the intersection.

Two passengers in a minivan became the third and fourth fatalities there this year.

The minivan was heading east on County Line Road and failed to stop at the stop sign. A semitractor-trailer heading north on Route 50 slammed into the van’s passenger side.

“We are also working to convert the intersection of Illinois 50 at County Line Road to an all-way stop,” Illinois Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Maria Castaneda said in an email response to the Daily Journal.

“We estimate that work will be completed, weather permitting, within the next few weeks,” she said.

Work was taking place on the west side of Illinois 50 near the intersection on Tuesday.

Informational signs near the intersection at County Line Road informed drivers of a traffic pattern change beginning Oct. 20.

Richard Petersen, Manteno Fire Protection District Chief, is glad IDOT is making the changes, but still has concerns

“I appreciate IDOT finally moving ahead with the stop signs; however, we are having many of these accidents because traffic is not stopping for current stop signs,” Petersen said in an email seeking comment. “I believe we will continue to have accidents until IDOT can reconfigure the intersection, fix the line of sight for traffic traveling east who are approaching the railroad while not knowing or seeing Route 50 immediately past the railroad, and they install stoplights.”

This is a plan IDOT has; however, there currently is no funding.

IDOT officials said that is planned and is in the early planning stages.

“My hope is with the 4-way stop, the accidents will be less significant as the traffic is slowed along Route 50 and maybe those drivers will see cross traffic not slowing down for their stop signs,” Petersen said.

For the past couple of years, fire officials, elected officials – both county and state – and citizens via emails, letters and phone calls have been asking, pleading and begging IDOT to make the intersection safer.

Following a Zoom meeting a month ago with the state’s secretary of transportation, Gia Biagi, the group propelled IDOT to move forward with the changes.

A year ago, rumble strips and stop signs with flashing red lights atop them were added after deadly crashes.

“They worked for a time, but it didn’t stop the accidents, and that is no fault of IDOT,” state Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, said.

According to IDOT’s Castaneda, in April 2024, the department installed additional signs to increase driver awareness of the intersection.

The April improvements included advance signs with amber flashing beacons to alert motorists of the upcoming intersection, stop signs were installed on the left side of the road with Cross Traffic Does Not Stop sign below (these were in addition to the existing stop sign with the Cross Traffic Does Not Stop sign on the right side of the road), along with installing red flashing beacons on the top of all of the stop signs.

Petersen said it took a group effort to get the latest change.

One member of that group is state Rep. Jackie Haas, R-Bourbonnais.

“My office and I have engaged in numerous meetings and conversations with IDOT and local stakeholders to add much-needed safety measures to this location,” Haas said in response to an email seeking comment.

“I am proud to say that these measures are a product of years of work, and I look forward to continuing these efforts to ensure long-term solutions are implemented.”

This year, there have been 18 accidents at the intersection in which four people have died, Petersen said.

The last two accidents before last Friday occurred on Sept. 22, when a person was transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

On Aug. 8, James Trotter, of Frankfort, died as a result of a three-vehicle crash at the site.

In 2024, there were 17 accidents at the intersection with two fatalities. In 2023, there were 19 accidents at the intersection and unknown fatalities, Petersen said.

Castaneda said IDOT is in the preliminary stages of a project that will add a traffic signal at the intersection, as well as other safety measures.

“Current engineering efforts are targeted to enable a contract letting in the middle years of the multi-year program, contingent upon plan readiness, land acquisition and funding availability through future annual legislative appropriations,” Castaneda said.

The proposed improvements are expected to involve resurfacing and re-striping Illinois 50 to provide one travel lane per direction and the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Illinois 50 and County Line Road.